Page 37 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

“And why do you think that?” she asked, arching a playful but challenging brow.

He cocked his lips into a smile. “Because,” he told her, his voice low. Just above a whisper. “You’re just as crazy as I am.”

“So, you would marry me, a stranger, with no prenup,” she said slowly. “Why would you do that?”

“I already plan to spend the rest of my life with you anyway,” Jericho said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What’s the difference between a piece of paper and not having that piece of paper.”

“Uh, health benefits, for one,” Annie pointed out. “I could also stay by your side in the hospital. Filing together might ding our taxes since our combined income would be even more, although that might not really matter to you.”

He chuckled. “You are so logical, do you realize that?” he asked. “It’s something I love about you.”

“I like to think I’m practical,” she murmured. “It helps me keep a cool head. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It calms me down.”

“But those things would benefit you, you know,” Jericho said slowly. “You would never have to worry about anything again. I would put the deed to your house back in your name so if you ever did decide to leave me, you would have somewhere to go. Not that I’m trying to buy your agreement or anything, but…” He shrugged and a light blush caressed his sharp cheekbones.

“Are you blushing?” Annie asked with wide eyes.

“Well, I’m not sure how to react,” he told her. “It’s not like I’ve asked anyone else to marry me before.”

Annie smiled, running her fingers through his hair. “I still don’t understand why you picked me,” she murmured. “I’m not trying to fish for compliments or to throw myself a pity party. But, to be honest, I don’t understand why, out of all the beautiful, intelligent women you’ve been with, why you decided to settle with me.”

He furrowed his brows. “I wouldn’t be settling with you,” he corrected. “I wish I could tell you. I mean, I could list all of your amazing qualities but I don’t think that’s what you want to hear. You want to know why you’re worthy of my hand in marriage when, in reality, I should be the one questioning my worth to you. The love I have for you can’t be measured in character traits, Annie. You’re the complete package and I admire you, respect you, and trust you. Marriage might be an extreme step, and I completely understand your hesitation. I would wait for however long you want to wait until you finally gave me the honor of becoming my wife. But I would tell you the same thing then that I know now: I know you’re the one, Annie.”

Annie smiled and shook her head. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. It was almost too perfect, if she was being honest.

“May I ask you a question?” she asked.

He nodded. “You can ask me anything,” he told her sincerely.

“Before me,” she said and she nearly rolled her eyes at the fact that she was cause for change in him. It sounded too cheesy. “Before me, you hadn’t been reported to be steady with anyone. Why is that?” Immediately, she looked away. “I know it’s none of my business. Your past is your past and I respect that. But I still want to know why you’re jumping from being single to suddenly wanting to get married to me.” She added quickly, “I do believe you love me. I’m not questioning that. And even though it’s a strange concept for me to wrap my head around, I’m open to believing you and I were destiny. Or fate. Or soul mates. Or whatever you want to call it. But why the extreme jump?”

“Don’t you think if I had found someone I wanted to settle down with, I would have?” he asked without malice in his tone. “I’ve always been the type of guy who wants to be with someone. I’ve been alone practically my whole life, Annie. You know this. I’ve told you this. But no one has given me a reason to want to settle down.”

Supermodels are pretty, sure, and they're great to have on my arm as arm candy. But that doesn't mean I want to settle down with them. And I definitely don't want to be with someone who's after my money."

Annie shot him a teasing smile. "And how do you know I'm not after your money?" she asked with a raised brow. "I am, after all, a lowly accountant and I still sometimes live paycheck to paycheck. You would be the solution to my problem."

He smiled, a slow thing that crawled onto his face and looked mischievous, like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

"Because," he told her slowly. "I know you. I remember the night we met. Do you?" He quirked a brow.

"How could I forget?" she asked.

"Right, well, once it was decided that I would get ownership of your parents' house, you told me you would be willing to pay me rent so you could get it in your name," he told her. "No games. No manipulation. You could have batted your eyelashes or flirted with me to try to get your way. Granted, it wouldn't have worked. But you didn't even try. And that was how I knew you didn't give a shit about my money."

"Hmm," she murmured, more to herself than to Jericho. "I completely forgot about that."

"Of course you would," he told her, his eyes bright. "Because something like that is who you are so it's nothing to remember. But to me, I'm constantly surrounded by people who want money, people who are grown and fully capable of working hard and earning a living, who seem to think the world owes them something."

Annie snorted. "That sounds like Bruce," she muttered, shaking her head.

She hadn't given much thought to her brother in the past couple of weeks, since she last spoke to him. There was a shot to her heart, a dull ache she had been able to ignore for the past couple of weeks thanks to Jericho's ability to distract her from all the bad things without even knowing it. Now, however, she couldn't simply ignore the fact that she missed her brother. Yeah, she told him never to talk to her again, but now that she calmed down, even she realized that she could talk a big game but she got over it quick.

"Bruce isn't that bad, Annie," Jericho said in a gentle voice. "He asks about you since he knows I've been at your place. He's a hard worker and he's shown me all the receipts. He is investing in that property." He paused, hesitating, and then, "Maybe you should call him."

Annie looked at Jericho’s face and she could tell he was being genuine. He wasn’t trying to meddle. Still, she felt herself get a tad defensive at his suggestion. The wound was still fresh, still raw, and it hurt particularly when Jericho was the one with dripping salt.

“I told him not to make me ask you for the money,” she decided to explain. Her voice was tight but controlled. Perhaps if he heard her side of things, maybe he would understand where she was coming from. Hell, he might even agree with her and retract that statement. “I told him I didn’t want to. I told him what that would mean. It felt like he was choosing that cabin over my feelings. He was putting me in an awkward situation, asking you. We barely knew each other.”